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Capitals of the world
Brussels, capital of Belgium: facts and figures
Brussels is the capital of Belgium. It has about 2,080,000 residents, which makes it the 71st most populous capital of the 172 in DailyGeo's atlas, and it sits 27 m above sea level. Its nearest neighbouring capital is Amsterdam, 173 km away.
Key figures
| Figure | Value |
|---|---|
| Country | Belgium |
| Continent | Europe |
| City population | 2,080,000 residents |
| World rank by population | 71st of 172 |
| Elevation | 27 m |
| Founded | 1795 |
| Time zone | Europe/Brussels |
| Coordinates | 50.85° N, 4.35° E |
| Country population | 11,941,781 residents |
| Country GDP | 725.5 billion US dollars |
| GDP per capita | $60,750 |
| Life expectancy | 82.3 years |
| Internet users | 95.8 % |
| Big Mac price | not reported |
Climate through the year
Brussels averages 4.9 °C in winter and 18.5 °C in summer. January is the coldest month of the year and August the warmest, and the city receives 802 mm of precipitation in an average year.
| Month | Mean temperature |
|---|---|
| January | 3.9 °C |
| February | 5.2 °C |
| March | 7.0 °C |
| April | 9.6 °C |
| May | 13.7 °C |
| June | 17.6 °C |
| July | 18.8 °C |
| August | 19.0 °C |
| September | 15.9 °C |
| October | 12.3 °C |
| November | 7.6 °C |
| December | 5.6 °C |
What makes it stand out
- Age: 2nd most recently founded capital in Europe (1795).
Nearest capitals
Distances are great-circle distances between city centres, which is what the Capitals game measures when it tells you how far a guess was from the answer. Amsterdam is the closest capital to Brussels.
| Capital | Country | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Amsterdam | Netherlands | 173 km |
| Luxembourg | Luxembourg | 187 km |
| Paris | France | 265 km |
| London | United Kingdom | 321 km |
| Bern | Switzerland | 489 km |
How to remember it
Reading a figure once rarely fixes it in memory. Attach Brussels to a place and a number you already know: it is 173 km from Amsterdam, and it is the 71st largest capital in the atlas. Then practise retrieving it. DailyGeo Capitals gives you one mystery capital a day with distance, direction, language and population clues, the memorising method explains the review schedule, and the capitals index lists all 172.
To see how Belgium compares with every other country on figures like these, the richest countries by GDP per capita ranks them on geopolitix, a country-ranking game by the same maker as DailyGeo.
Sources
- City population and coordinates: DailyGeo's own game data, the same figures the Capitals game plays with. Population follows the urban area rather than the commune, which is why no density is quoted.
- Temperature and rainfall: ten-year means (2015 to 2024) computed from ERA5 reanalysis, retrieved through Open-Meteo. Hersbach, H., et al. (2020). The ERA5 global reanalysis. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.
- Elevation: terrain height at the city's coordinates in the Copernicus DEM, read through Open-Meteo rather than taken from a curated claim.
- Time zone: resolved from the same coordinates.
- Country figures: the World Bank, latest reported year for each series: Country GDP, GDP per capita, Country population, Life expectancy, Internet users.
- Founding date: Wikidata, earliest recorded founding claim.
- This capital elsewhere: Wikipedia, UNdata, Wikidata.
- Method and limits: How this data was collected explains how each figure was collected and what it does not cover.
The short answer
Brussels is the capital of Belgium, in Europe, with about 2,080,000 residents, averaging 4.9 °C in winter and 18.5 °C in summer.
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Play today's DailyGeo puzzleFrequently asked questions
What is the capital of Belgium?
Brussels is the capital of Belgium. It has about 2,080,000 residents and lies in Europe.
How many people live in Brussels?
About 2,080,000, which ranks Brussels 71st of the 172 capitals in DailyGeo's atlas by city population.
What is the weather like in Brussels?
Brussels averages 4.9 °C in winter and 18.5 °C in summer, with 802 mm of precipitation a year. These are ten-year means from ERA5 reanalysis.
How expensive is Brussels?
GDP per capita in the country is $60,750, the latest year the World Bank reports.
Keep learning
- Amsterdam, capital of Netherlands: facts and figures
Amsterdam is the capital of Netherlands: 1,160,000 residents, 11 m above sea level, 5.2 °C in winter and 17.6 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Luxembourg, capital of Luxembourg: facts and figures
Luxembourg is the capital of Luxembourg: 130,000 residents, 314 m above sea level, 3.0 °C in winter and 18.4 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Paris, capital of France: facts and figures
Paris is the capital of France: 11,100,000 residents, 46 m above sea level, 5.5 °C in winter and 19.8 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Capitals of the world: the full list by continent
Every capital in DailyGeo's atlas, grouped by continent, with population, elevation and winter and summer temperatures, each linking to its own data page.